House Raising

William P. Chappel

1870s · Oil on slate paper · The American Wing

As Manhattan’s population expanded in the early nineteenth century, many working-class residents relocated to the city’s more rural northern wards to escape rising downtown rents. This tenth-ward scene takes place on Grand between Eldridge and Allen Streets (in today’s Lower East Side). A master builder and several journeymen, some with long pike poles, work to raise one side (called a "bent") of a timber-frame house. For years, New York had tried unsuccessfully to prohibit wood structures in favor of more fire-friendly brick or stone. At right, what are possibly the flames from a forge can be seen through the window of a blacksmith’s shop.

Artist

William P. Chappel

Date

1870s

Medium

Oil on slate paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954